Flavor Apple: The flavor was pretty good. I love green candy apple flavoring, candy, supplements, whatever it may be I love it. This wasn't the best green apple flavor I've ever had. I wish it was a little more sweet or sour, like real candy apple flavoring. It wasn't bad though and went down easily. It wasn't too light but like I said it wasn't all that strong either. Right in the middle in terms of the strength of the flavor.

Mixability: I didn't notice any problems with the product mixing. A few swirls in my bottle and it was all mixed. I didn't notice any floating pieces and def didn't choke on anything while I was drinking the product.

Energy: The first two days I took 1 packet. The energy was noticeable for sure. Wasn't too strong but it was there to carry me through my workouts. The first day I crashed hard when I came home from the gym but it could have been the overall day whiched caused the stress. I didn't notice it the next day at all. The last day I took 2 packets and the energy didn't seem to increase all that much but it was stronger. I wouldn't say it doubled but it was more noticeable. The energy is exactly what I look for, it was clean, no jitters, but it was still noticeable to get a bit more amp'd up for the workout.

Focus: Didn't get much increased focus from the first two packets. However when I took two packets I noticed a jump in focus. I was dead set on getting my goals complete in the gym. Not tunnel vision but with a combination of the energy I was in the zone. The two packets also provided me with a good mind/muscle connection.

Pump: The pumps were above average. Agamtine could be hit or miss with me especially under 1g preworkout. However even at 1 packet the other ingredients picked up the slack and I still noticed an increase in pumps. At two packets the pumps were good but didn't seem to increase or dobule from just one packet.

Thermo: Ok this is a weird one and I don't know how it really happened but, at two packets I was sweating like a mad man. I am on other products that may contribute to thermo effect but I've been on the products for a bit now and nothing like this happened and I'm not taking other stimulants. I described in my log that when I was leaving the gym it felt like I had jumped in a pool with my clothes on.

Overall: So with DMAA going away I haven't been all that impressed with many of the new preworkouts coming the market. This is the exception. It provided me good energy that I could feel. I am pretty happy with this product and would put it atop the list of the preworkouts that have come to the market in awhile. I wish I had a tub of the product to further experiment with this preworkout. Overall it gets the Gotti Seal of Approval

Mixibility 9/10- I have mixed with just a spoon, and it mixed right up, there were some particles left at the bottom, but no big chunks. When shaken, it mixes perfectly.

Taste 8/10- The smell of the powder is absolutely amazing and the taste follows through. not the best I've ever had, but definitely on the good side.

Energy 9/10- Its an eye opener. It is a good fluent rush of energy with no noticeable crash. amazing focus properties

Pump 9/10- I am impressed, I rarely can tell the difference between most preworkouts and any pump feeling, but Ritual did seem to provide some added pump.

An added point, that I often do not get from most preworkouts, is focus. Although I always go to the gym with a purpose, Ritual added to this effect and I really felt emerged in what I was doing. This is something I will definitely use again.

Taste: 5/5 I had Icy Blue Freeze. It reminded me of blue Kool-Aid or Powerade. It was a very subtle flavor. It wasn't sour like some powders can be. It was actually refreshing too drink.

Mixability: 5/5 I just dumped it into a water bottle and gave it a quick swirl. There was no settling or grit.

Energy: 4/5 The energy was definetly there. I tried between 1 and 2 scoops. The energy was there throughout the duration of the session and I didn't crash. If you're wanting a stimmed pre, then this is a good bet. The only reason I didn't give this a 5, is because sometimes I would get the jitters off it. Still, it's definetly solid.

Effects: 9.5/10-
Incredible focus from this pre-workout, only slight downside was that if i needed a 'pick-me-up', this wasn't the right product. But i just popped a caffeine pill and was good to go.

Cost: 10/10-
For the price, it really is amazing. Was super impressed!

Overall- 9.5/10.

Pretty amazing product IMO, great focus, good taste, great mix & price. Its a product I would definatley purchase again, only reason it gets 9.5 is because it cant be used as a boot for energy, but It clearly states that on the label.

This is a product that has been on the market for quite a while, but I've gotta say this is a pre-workout that is highly underrated!

Taste: 4/5 I've gone through two tubs, first being Icy Blue Razz and the second Watermelon. Out of those two I prefer the Icy Blue Razz, but Watermelon reminds me of Athletix High Volume. Both flavors are subtle with very little aftertaste.

Mixability: 5/5 . . . Absolutely no issue here.

Ingredient Profile: 4/5 . . . . There are some ingredients that I really don't prefer in a pre-workout (creatine and beta-alanine) but the inclusion of them at two scoops has you at suggested/clinical doses. Solid dose of agmatine, and the stim/focus blend does quite a nice job.

Performance: 5/5 . . . . What is great about this product is the overall consistency from workout to workout. This pre-workout was a solid performer from the beginning of my first tub to the conclusion of the last tub (today).

Overall: 4.5/5 . . . . . Very solid, underrated pre-workout. Only reason it does not receive a full "5" is for the fact that I (personally) can do without creatine and beta-alanine, food and dye coloring in a pre-workout. If consistency, solid energy and focus are something you're looking for ANS Ritual is definitely worth a shot.

Iíve been looking at Ritual for some time. With DMAA getting pulled from all the Pre-workouts, a few well known pre-workouts have turned to a replacement for DMAA. Dendrobium is what they are using. Dendrobium is an extract from an orchid from places like China and other tropical Asian countries.

When ANS Performance first started to promote Ritual there seemed to be a lot of Hype, but what supplement company doesn't build up the hype to increase sales. Were they all fail is many donít live up to it. ANS actually did a pretty good job living up to it. ANS hyped up Ritual so much. That sites like bodybuilding.com sold out in the first week.

Back to Dendrobium, Dendrobium has been used in the past for increasing Hydration, Energy and improved mood. From what I read beforehand, Dendrobium has been shown to be just has good as DMAA, but with no crash and better focus without the jitters. Dendrobium has been shown to lower blood pressure, increase blood sugars and reduce joint pain. Unlike DMAA which has been proven to raise Blood pressure and increase the risk of a seizure. One last thing about Dendrobium, unlike other Stims that your body adjusts to and donít seem to affect you in the same ways. How many times have you used a Pre-workout and the first week was great, but after that it never seemed to have that same punch. Dendrobium has a slower tolerance build up. Which means it will continue to give that same punch long after others would have died off.

Astragin is another ingredient that isnít being seen a lot, but I bet itís going to be popular soon. It is one thing to just dump some ingredients into a tub, but if you can increase the absorption rate of them thatís even better. Astragin has been clinically studied to help arginine absorption by 62%. Just 60 milligrams of Astragin a day will increase absorption levels of nutrients such as amino acids, vitamins and protein. Astragin is an important addition to Ritual. It allows you to get everything out of the product by giving you better use of the other ingredients. Better absorption rate means you get what you actually pay for.

OK enough of the ďWhat they say it can doĒ and letís get into what I found.

I ordered the Candy Green Apple. Iíve always liked Candy Apple flavors. I read a review on BB.com that it tasted just like a Jolly Rancher. Well they were wrong. The flavor is more like green apple and not so much like Candy. I wish is had more of a sweet & sour flavor, but itís not bad over all. I have had a lot worse.

Now how did it mix all up? The powder is so fine just a couple of shakes and it was mixed. No floaters, no chunks sinking to the bottom and no gritty residue.

Now the most important part of this whole write up. How did it perform? I started off at one scoop. That one scoop kicked in faster then what I thought. So I had to adjust my timing to about 10min before getting to the gym. So it would kick in towards the end of my warm ups. I have used many pre-workouts that have had a great start and would give a huge boost of energy during my warm ups, but about the time I was right in the middle of my core sets. It would wear off and I could start to feel the crash coming. With Ritual I never got the huge instant crazy jittery feeling all at once. The effects seem to increase with my workload and never run out. What do I mean by increase with my workload? It seemed like when I was on my last rep or the weights got heavy. I was always able to power through and grind out one more rep. I was even able to nail a couple of PR singles in squats. I was doing some reverse Banded Squats with Mini reds. I did a set of 405x8 followed by 455x2 during the 2nd week. By the 4th week, I nailed 475x1 and a 495x1. At this time 455 was the heaviest I have had on my back before. I didnít see a near 500 squat in my future anytime soon, but now I know itís right around the corner.

Iíve been pushing it to about 1.5hrs and it lasted. The BA tingles are seen, but they are not that intense. I tried bumping up to 2 scoops for a week. Wasn't too much difference, but it was a little. I backed it down to 1.5 scoops and that seems to be the sweet spot for me.

Overall itís great. My favorite Pre-Workouts to date are LG Scienceís EPIC, Purus Labs Condense, and NLAís Supp-D. Iíd have to place this one up there with Condense, but itís different so itís not fair to compare. They affected me different, but both in a good way. So Iíve added it to my list of approved pre-workouts and when it goes on sell or a buy one get one free on BB.com. Iíll be ordering more up. (But Iím going to try another flavor next)